The US military's secretive X-37B robotic spaceplane has taken off from Florida on its seventh mission. The mission marks the first time the plane has been launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of delivering it into a higher orbit than ever before. The Falcon Heavy, made up of three rocket cores strapped together, roared off its launch pad from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday in a spectacular nighttime lift-off that was streamed live. The US launch comes two weeks after China's own robot spaceplane, known as the Shenlong, or Divine Dragon, was launched on its third mission into orbit since 2020, adding a new twist to the two countries' growing rivalry in space. The Pentagon has disclosed few details about the X-37B mission, which is expected to last for years and is being conducted by the US Space Force under the military's National Security Space Launch programme.

A major milestone for a secretive hypersonic spaceplane the military could one day use to launch satellites at short notice have been completed. The reusable Phantom Express spaceplane will take off vertically and land horizontally, and is being built by Boeing as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane program, and its engines have now passed a key test. It is hoped it will play a crucial role in future space warfare, allowing military bosses to launch satellites and replace damaged ones within hours. The reusable Phantom Express spaceplane will take off vertically and land horizontally, and is being built by Boeing as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane program. The Pentagon's research arm now test-fired the new rocket engine 10 times in as many days, a critical step toward a space plane that can put satellites in orbit on a daily basis, project officials said.

A major milestone for a secretive hypersonic spaceplane the military could one day use to launch satellites at short notice have been completed. The reusable Phantom Express spaceplane will take off vertically and land horizontally, and is being built by Boeing as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane program, and its engines have now passed a key test. It is hoped it will play a crucial role in future space warfare, allowing military bosses to launch satellites and replace damaged ones within hours. The reusable Phantom Express spaceplane will take off vertically and land horizontally, and is being built by Boeing as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane program. The Pentagon's research arm now test-fired the new rocket engine 10 times in as many days, a critical step toward a space plane that can put satellites in orbit on a daily basis, project officials said.

The first rocket engines for a secretive hypersonic spaceplane the military could one day use to launch satellites at short notice have been completed. The reusable Phantom Express spaceplane will take off vertically and land horizontally, and is being built by Boeing as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane program. It is hoped it will play a crucial role in future space warfare, allowing military bosses to launch satellites and replace damaged ones within hours. The reusable Phantom Express spaceplane will take off vertically and land horizontally, and is being built by Boeing as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane program. The vehicle will be equipped with an expendable second stage capable of placing up to 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit.

SpaceX will launch the Air Force's X-37B experimental spaceplane later this year, in the military's latest vote of confidence in the Elon Musk-led space company. This will be the first time SpaceX has launched the uncrewed, robotic vehicle. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., has launched the spaceplane's previous four missions atop one of its Atlas V rockets. The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, which is responsible for the X-37B's experimental operations, said it was "very excited" for the fifth flight, which will test how special electronics and heat pipes will fare during a long-duration space mission. "We look forward to continued expansion of the vehicle's performance and are excited to continue hosting experimental payloads for the space community," the office's director, Randy Walden, said in a statement.